This invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing pork skins, and more particularly to an apparatus for curing and smoking pork skins to condition them for rendering.
Traditionally, pork products, such as ham and bacon, have been cured in their processing stage prior to being introduced on the market to preserve them and extend their shelf life, and to improve their flavor. Curing techniques usually involve the step of applying a curing solution to the meat and then placing slabs of the meat in a smokehouse for several hours. In the smokehouse the meat would be subjected to a source of heat, usually in the form of hot air which is blown across the meat to raise its temperature and "set the cure", i.e., activate the curing ingredients, after which the meat was then ready for further processing.
In these smokehouses the meat would also often be subjected to a smoking process in which smoke, usually made from the sawdust of hickory wood, would be passed over the meat at the elevated temperature to add a smoked flavor to the meat and incidentally aid in preserving the meat. Alternatively, the meats were dipped in or sprayed or fogged with liquid smoke before or while being subjected to the elevated temperature to obtain the smoked flavor.
After the meats were subjected to the curing and smoking processes described above, the skins would be removed from the slabs of meat and the meat further processed for ultimate consumption. The skins could be "rendered" which entails subjecting them to an elevated temperature to remove the grease and then placing them in hot grease to "pop" them and form dry pork skins. Since the aforementioned curing and smoking imparted a delicious flavor to the skins, the rendered and popped skins often would be cut up into small pieces and marketed as a snack, not unlike potato chips.
However, it was later discovered that the pork meat could be better penetrated by the curing and smoking solution and would retain a more satisfying color from an aesthetic standpoint if the skin was stripped off the meat before the aforementioned curing and smoking processes. Thus, in order to produce the popped pork skins, the skins would have to be subjected to a separate curing and smoking process to preserve them and produce a satisfying flavor. If this was carried out in a smokehouse according to the traditional method discussed above, the skins would have to be individually placed on trucks or racks in the smokehouse and subjected to the heat required for curing and smoking for several hours before being removed from the smokehouse. The labor involved in this type of processing would be prohibitive from a cost standpoint. Also, the application of the hot air would tend to blow the skins together causing them to stick together, which would further complicate matters.